


Sometimes It Just Is

by words_reign_here



Series: The Girl They Thought She Was [2]
Category: Supernatural, Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: F/M, M/M, canon violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-25
Updated: 2015-05-25
Packaged: 2018-04-01 05:33:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,908
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4007770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/words_reign_here/pseuds/words_reign_here
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Winchesters are settling in, despite the earlier attack on Scott months previous. They have the life with Allison in school, Dean with Cas and Sam-<br/>Well, they are working on that ok?<br/>Then the rains come and there is something in the air that isn't quite right. Allison and Stiles are gone and Lydia has to give something up that is very precious to her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sometimes It Just Is

 

The days stretched themselves out and nothing came back for them. It made Sam a little uneasy, especially after the vicious attack on Scott that was clearly meant to kill him. Dean found himself working at Derek’s garage, teaching the guy a few new things and learning a few things himself. They formed an easy friendship, founded mostly on glares and insults. It reminded him a little of what it used to be like with Bobby and sometimes that made his chest ache for the old man. Cas, for his part, was happy to be in their house, reading and watching trash tv. He watched way too much Food Channel but no one minded when their dinner was a rotisserie chicken with a honey walnut glaze and steamed fresh vegetables on the side. Allison suggested that they plant their own garden that spring in the backyard. Cas had taken to the idea immediately.

Allison seemed to fit in well at her school. Dean had been inwardly dreading raising a teenage girl, remembering the drama and hysterics of the girls he used to date as a kid but he found himself completely mistaken. Allison was as low key as they got. Sam had more dramatics when it came to his teenage years than Allison ever did. If things didn’t go her way, she would usually shrug it off and forget about it or try again. This was her strategy in both school and training.

She trained hard, Sam would grant her that. Whenever she got knocked to the ground she would stand up, brush herself off and say, “Again.” It took her two weeks to get the best of Sam, training every day. But she eventually got him, get him in a leg lock and spraining his ankle in her over-enthusiasm. Gabriel still laughed about Sam’s reaction. It took her two months and four days to get the best of Dean. He was often ruthless with her, leaving them both panting and Allison on the floor until Cas swooped in with a glare at Dean and soothing hand for Allison. She never objected to the way he trained her. Often, she would stand, if she could and nod. “Again.” She would demand.

And so it went until finally one day, Allison backed Dean into a corner and in a move that was too fast for Sam to properly follow, had snatched Dean’s own knife from his belt and held it to his throat.

The moment of silence had been so still that no one moved. Cas and Sam shared a glance and Gabe grinned from his chair. He treated Allison’s training sessions like his favorite tv show. He even brought snacks.

“ _Good._ ” Dean had finally growled. 

Sam couldn’t help but remember the first time Dean had bested their own father. He had not encouraged. He had not congratulated. He had snatched the gun Dean held on him and glared. John had told Dean to do better next time, to do it faster.

Sam was still grateful that Dean was not their father. Although Sam had not known their mother, he was sure that Dean had taken after her more than John.

The night Allison took down Dean, they went out for milkshakes and ice cream.

The four of them sat in a booth, Allison and Sam on one side, Dean and Cas on the other. Allison chattered on about a project she had for English and Cas gave her his full attention, as always. He would murmur an encouraging word and nod but Sam had tuned out a long time ago. He was thinking about Derek’s pack. He wondered if they were the only supernatural creatures in town. They couldn’t possibly be, not after the attack three months previous.

“Earth to Sam Winchester. Earth to Sam Winchester. Do you come in?” Allison intoned from next to him.

“Yeah, sorry. What were you saying?”

“Chaucer.” Allison prompted.

“ _That_ dude.” Sam said and shook his head. “They are letting you read that but not Huck Finn?” He said with a snort. 

“It’s an AP class and extra credit to boot.” She said. She raised an eyebrow. “I was wondering if you could take me down to the university library so I can research some stuff.”

Sam nodded. “I can do that.”

The bell over the door of the diner jingled and Allison looked up. Because Sam was looking at her, he couldn’t help but notice how her entire face lit up and he smirked into his own large dish of ice cream before spooning way too much into his mouth.

“Hey Allison!” Scott said, after making his way over to their table. He tugged along a woman behind him was a petite with dark hair and curls. Her eyes were the same wide brown as Scott’s but with a little bit of sadness behind them too. She was smaller than Scott, much smaller than Sam. “This is my mom.”

Sam choked.

He would curse peanut topping until the day he died, but god help him, he choked.

He tried to clear his throat and when that didn’t work, he reached for Dean’s water. Dean watched him, curious. “Sammy?”

He couldn’t breathe and Scott’s mother was watching him intently now.

“Sam?” Allison asked.

He couldn’t speak and he glared at Cas through the tears gathering in his eyes. Much to Sam’s surprise, Cas smirked a little before turning the expression into something resembled measured caution. “Sam?” He asked. “Are you all right?” Cas asked.

_You bastard._ He thought at Cas.  _You know I’m embarrassing the hell out of myself right now and you are doing nothing about it._

The smirk, this time, was easier to see.

“Cas help him.” Allison demanded.

“I don’t know the Heimlich.” Cas said, his eyebrows knitted together, pretending to be worried once again. Allison glared at him. Dean opened his mouth to say something but Cas turned and glared at him and Dean shut his mouth.

“Allison, honey, move.” Scott’s mother demanded and Allison slid out of booth. “Sam, stand up.”

Sam was struggling to breath now and he was starting to panic. He did as Scott’s mother said and stood. She swiftly turned him around, placed her hands on solar plexus and pulled savagely up and inward and the peanuts stuck in Sam’s throat came free. He collapsed on the floor. Scott’s mom knelt in front of him and tilted his head up and placed two fingers on his pulse there and looked at his eyes. “You’ll be fine. Maybe, next time, chew your food though?” She suggested gently. Sam coughed, nodded and stood.

“Thank you.” Sam said hoarsely, clearing his throat.

“My mom’s a nurse.” Scott added helpfully.

“Incredibly useful set of skills in a situation such as this.” Cas said, his expression smoothed away into relief. Sam turned to him, an angry remark on his tongue but from behind his mother’s back, Scott made a large no, _cut it out_ sign. 

“Yeah. Incredibly useful.” Dean added, to cut into the silence. “Sit down with us, let me buy you guys some ice cream for saving my brother’s life.” Dean said.

“Oh, we couldn’t.” She said, waving her hands away. “You guys are having a nice family thing here.”

“Please, Mrs. McCall-” Cas started.

“Melissa.” She said immediately.

“Melissa.” Cas repeated, warming to the name immediately. “God knows what would have happened if you hadn’t been here. Let us pay you back.”

Everyone, even Scott, turned to Cas at those words.

“I guess it’ll be ok- just this once. And only if you would promise to come over to our house for dinner.” She countered and then glanced at Sam. “I promise not to use any peanuts in my cooking if you promise to chew your food.”

Everyone laughed at that and Scott and Sam dragged a table over to the booth. Their waitress came by and they placed their order and everyone began to settle in. Dean draped an arm around the back of Castiel’s shoulders and Allison leaned over the table to show Scott something on her phone.

“So you’re the Dean that everyone is talking about?” Melissa prompted. She took a long drink of her milkshake. “All the ladies at the hospital are saying that they won’t take their cars anywhere else but Derek’s for any kind of mechanical problem.”

Dean laughed. “Derek did mention that his mostly female clientele had been booming since I started working with him. Not that Derek was doing too bad himself.”

“Well, being under suspicion of murder might have put a slight damper on all of that.” Melissa said.

Dean laughed. “I can see how that would slow business down.”

“They didn’t say you were married though.” Melissa said.

“Cas doesn’t like for me to wear my ring when I’m working. He saw a video once about this guy who got his ring caught on a bar or something and his finger just-”

“Dean!” Allison said.

“It’s a legitimate concern.” Melissa said, nodding. “I’ve seen it before.” She turned her eyes to Sam who watching an all too familiar Camaro pull into the parking lot. Stiles hopped out and closed the door behind him. Derek got out of the driver’s side and Sam couldn’t help but roll his eyes. He watched as Derek said something to Stiles and Stiles made an about face and turned back to the car, locked it, and closed the door again.

“So what do you do, Sam?” Melissa asked, following Sam’s eyes to the two crossing the parking lot.

“I’m, uh, actually between jobs at the moment.” Sam said slowly.

“He can do that.” Allison interjected, rolling her eyes.

Melissa looked confused before Cas added, “My brother-in-law is obscenely and independently wealthy.”

“Oh.” Melissa said softly and the conversation would have died an awkward death then but the bell over the front door rang one more time and Allison looked up and waved at the two newcomers.

“Stiles! Derek!” She called out.

“Hey guys.” Scott said, turning in his seat. Derek raised a hand to them but went directly to the register, pulling out a credit card and talking to their waitress.

“Is this a top secret meeting I wasn’t invited to?” Stiles asked, looking around.

“Yes.” Allison said firmly.

“Absolutely.” Scott agreed.

“Great.” Stiles said, shoving Scott out of his seat and into the empty chair next to Allison. He sat down next to Melissa and smiled at her. “Hey Melissa.”

“Stiles.” She said and hugged him. “How’s your dad?”

“He’s good. Out catching low life criminals. I made him eat a salad for lunch today.” He reported. He took a drink of Scott’s milkshake and frowned. “Peanut butter? Wow, dude.”

“That’s good. How have you been? Did that bug pass?” She asked.

Stiles turned to Scott. “You tell her, like, everything.” Stiles accused.

“I told her.” Derek said, making his way over to the table with two boxes in his hands. He handed one over to Stiles. “Since you wouldn’t see a doctor.”

“I would be insulted at my complete lack of privacy but you have food, so I will keep these and all other thoughts to myself.” Stiles said and reached for one of the to go boxes. They must have gotten take out to eat elsewhere but neither one even thought to leave once they saw everyone gathered around the tables.

Derek rolled his eyes. Then he glared at Dean. “Winchester.”

Dean snorted. “Pretty boy.”

“That was some pretty shoddy work on that Ford today.” Derek snapped.

“Yeah, well, I learn from the best.” Dean shot back.

“Who the hell hired you anyway?” Derek growled and fell into a chair between Scott and Stiles.

“The same moron who runs that garage. The same one who doesn’t pay enough.”

“I hear the guy’s a genius.” Derek replied.

“Ugh. Do I not get enough of this during the day? Now I have to deal with this guy at dinner?” Dean groaned.

“Hello Derek.” Cas said.

“Hey Cas. How’ve you been? Peter asked about you the other day. Well, he asked about those cookies, but it’s all the same thing.” Derek said warmly, shooting a grin at him and openly flirting. “They were the best.”

“I could make some more.” Cas volunteered, leaning away from Dean’s arm on the back of his headrest and towards Derek’s space. Allison watched as Dean’s eyes flickered between the two of them and she knew he was holding his tongue. “They weren’t all that difficult.”

Derek leaned forward too and looked down at his hands before looking back at Cas. “Well, you know, I’m not a difficult man to please.”

“No, but you’re going to be a dead man soon.” Dean said casually.

Melissa leaned over to Sam and whispered, “Is this how they always are?”

“It’s a really messed up way of showing affection. Two emotionally constipated alpha males trying to express how much they admire the other one and they are only able to do it by insulting one another. Whoever insults the other more, wins. So far, Dean has lost only because Derek flirts with Cas but Dean refuses to flirt with Stiles.” Sam said, scooping up some more ice cream and the thinking better of it.

“Do you have a better way of showing affection, Sam?” Dean asked. “It’s not like I can stand up and hug Derek and greet him with a sweet comment about his leather jacket.”

Sam rolled his eyes and leaned around Melissa. “Hey Scott. I heard you aced your chem test the other day.”

Scott lit up. “Yeah! Allison helped me out a lot with that.” He nudged her shoulder with his.

Sam shook his head, “That was all you buddy. What are your plans for the summer?”

“I was thinking about getting a job at the local vet. Somewhere with, uh, animals, you know?” Scott replied, warming under Sam’s attention.

“That sounds great. You’d do a great job there.” Sam said and nodded. He sat back and turned to Dean. “I just had a conversation with another alpha male and nothing was mean or insulting or insinuating.”

Melissa raised a finger at Dean and Derek. “You two should take notes.”

“That was all an act?” Scott asked, a thread of hurt in his voice.

“No.” Cas said. “When Sam asks something, he wants information. You can rest assured that if you need a reference or a mock interview, Sam will gladly volunteer for both.”

“Did you marry the wrong Winchester?” Dean asked, turning to Cas.

“No, I just married the pretty one.” Cas replied.

“Did you see that? Cas can do both conversations.” Stiles shook his head. “Amazing.” Derek shot Stiles a look but Stiles just took a large bite of his burger and grinned around it.

“I could use some references.” Scott muttered. “I hadn’t thought about that.”

“Sammy has you covered.” Dean said. “He writes the best reference letters this side of the continent.” Sam raised his eyebrows at Dean. Dean shrugged. “I just said you can BS really well, man. Don’t get all mushy.”

Sam rolled his eyes.

The rest of the night was filled with too much sugar, laughter and eventually some coffee. Stiles and Derek were the first to leave, much to no one’s surprise. Allison yawned and that was a signal for everyone else to pack it in. As they all stood, Melissa said, “I was serious about dinner. Let me invite you all over. Scott and Stiles are always going on about what great guys you are. And I feel like you have cut my grocery bill in half, what with how much time Scott is spending over there.”

“Mom!” Scott said.

“It’s true. Teenage boys require a great many calories. Especially the athletic ones.” Cas said nodding. “But we have become quite fond of you and your friends, Scott so don’t think its a burden.”

“And Sam has a lot of money.” Dean added.

Scott, used to the way that Cas spoke, blushed under the compliment. “Thanks, guys.”

Melissa smiled and squeezed her son’s upper arm. “Let’s plan on Thursday, if that works for you guys? Our house, let’s say, seven?”

“We’ll be there.” Dean said.

Allison covered her mouth as she yawned again and leaned into Sam.

“We better go.” Sam said. He stuck out his hand to Melissa. “It was very nice meeting you.” He said.

She smiled, easier, lighter this time. “You too, Sam. Dean. Castiel.” Her and Scott turned towards the door and headed out with Scott on her heels.

Dean paid at the front and they all headed out to the Impala, Allison leaning on Sam still. He tucked her underneath his arm and relished the feeling of Big Brother. They slipped into the car and headed home. Everyone trooped to their rooms, ready for sleep.

Upstairs in his room, Sam pulled on a tshirt, some pajama pants and pulled down the blankets on his bed. He was just about ready to get in when-

“Hey!” He said out loud, to an empty room. He spun around, marched down the hallway and ignored the Number One Rule of Living With Dean Winchester.

_Knock._

He threw open Cas and Dean’s door, realizing his mistake after he had stepped into the room. Lucky for him, Cas was reading in bed and Dean was standing just outside the bathroom door, a toothbrush in his mouth.

“What the hell was that all about back there?” He asked, pointing a finger at Cas.

“I’m sure I don’t know what you are referring to.” Cas replied, not looking up from his book. He turned a page slowly.

“At the diner. With Melissa. You don’t know the Heimlich? You probably knew the guy!” He accused. Then he turned on his brother. “And what’s all this about me being rich? All of Dick’s money isn’t just in my name!”

Dean turned back into the bathroom, Sam heard him spit and rinse and he came back and said, “Dude, you need a girl.”

Sam sputtered something incoherent, trying to gather his thoughts. “So you just throw me to the first available woman you see?”

“No, of course not.” Dean said, wiping his hands on his shirt and then taking it off. He threw it beside the hamper which earned him a look from Cas. Dean walked over and put it in the basket. “I see available women all day, Sam. I just followed Cas’s lead here and figured he knew something I didn’t.”

“You’ve been _talking_ about getting me a girlfriend?” Sam asked, aghast now. Was he really that obvious?

“Off and on.” Cas said and put aside his book. “And no, Melissa was not the first available. She simply was the first woman, or person for that matter let’s not be exclusionary here, that you have shown interest in outside of this family. Your entire life cannot consist of hunting ghosts and taking care of your family, Sam. You’ve got to have something for yourself.”

“What I think Cas is saying, is you have got to get laid.” Dean said. Cas glared at him. “I mean, go out, have a good time. Meet someone that you are interested in that isn’t up to their neck in demon’s blood every time something goes down.”

“She’s the mother of a werewolf.” Sam reminded him. “Not only that, she is the mother of the boy our little sister is looking to date.”

Cas tipped his head to the side as though contemplating something. “Granted, it does complicate things. But we trust in your good senses to handle this like an adult.”

“I actually hate you both.” Sam said and left the room just as suddenly as he had entered.

In his own room, he fell asleep easily, thinking about sweet smiles and brown curls.

~~~

In school the next day, Allison found herself looking more and more to Thursday.

“Do you want to come?” She asked Lydia at lunch. “Scott will be there which means Stiles will be there.”

“The guys will be there too.” Scott added, taking half of the proffered sandwich that Allison handed over.

“We have the trig test Friday.” Lydia reminded everyone. Stiles plopped down next to her and smiled. She rolled her eyes and reached out to fix his hair. “You’re a mess.” She muttered.

“So you’re coming? Mom wants to know how many places to set.” Scott asked again.

“I’ll bring the salad.” Lydia confirmed, giving up on Stiles’ hair.

“I’ve got dessert.” Allison said.

“Well, wait. What do I bring?” Stiles said.

“Drinks. Bring drinks.” Scott said helpfully. “And Derek. He’s not going to come unless invited.”

Stiles nodded.

The next two days passed quickly, with Allison and Cas debating constantly about what dessert to take. They finally decided on a tiramisu and Thursday afternoon finished it.

Good thing too, because as Allison was picking out earrings to wear, she heard an almighty crash from the hallway.

“You wear the gray!” Sam shouted.

“I’m not wearing gray! I’m wearing green!” Dean shouted from the other end of the hallway. There was another crash and Allison peeked her head out of her room to see Sam catch a volleyball she didn’t know they owned.

“I’m wearing green! Wear blue!” Sam shouted and threw the volleyball at Dean’s head.

“Cas is wearing blue!” The volleyball flew by Allison’s head and this time Sam barely caught it before it nailed him in the face.

“What is wrong with you people?” She asked, looking between her brothers.

“He sets up this whole thing but when I mention I am wearing green he finds this,” Sam held up the volleyball, “And tried to hit me in the head with it!”

“Because he knows that green is my signature color!” Dean said, stomping down the hall wearing his nice jeans, work boots and white tank top. Sam had on his nice jeans, boots and a green button up shirt only partially buttoned.

“Wear red.” Allison suggested to Dean. “I like you in red more than I like you in green. It’s like you know that you look best in green.”

“It’s because I do look best in green.” Dean whined, knowing the battle was lost. Allison reached up, fixed some of his hair and smiled.

“Dean, let’s be honest. You look best in just about everything. Even that stupid apron Cas got you.” She patted his cheek and pushed him back to his room. She raised an eyebrow at Sam who mouthed _Thank you_ at her. 

They left half an hour later, with Cas carefully balancing the dessert on his lap. Dean drove and Allison and Sam sat in the back. They arrived just as Derek, Stiles and the sheriff did, pulling in behind them. Lydia’s car was already in the driveway and they marched up to the door as a single unit. Scott answered the door before they could even knock and grinned at them.

“Hey guys. Come on in.” He said. Allison and Derek and Stiles were through the door first, they were the most comfortable here. Cas and Dean followed after them, and then Sam and the sheriff. The house was warm and inviting and Sam stopped at the mantle to look at pictures of (mostly) Scott and Stiles. The sheriff stopped with him.

“They have been together since the beginning, haven’t they?” Sam muttered, inspecting a picture of two boys who couldn’t be more than three years old, arms slung around each other. It was the same pose they would have all the way through elementary school until the present.

“Claudia and Melissa met at the playground one day. The boys just- I don’t know. Mind melded or something. They can practically read each other’s minds now.” The sheriff replied, smirking at the pictures themselves.

“And Claudia is-?” Sam asked, glancing around the room where people were shuffling in and out of the kitchen and living room.

“Stiles’ mom passed away when he was pretty young.” The sheriff said, the words dropping from his mouth softly. His brow crinkled but then smoothed away as if the words didn’t still hurt him.

“I’m sorry to hear that.” Sam said gently. “Our mom, mine and Dean’s, died in a fire when I was six months old. Our dad passed away when I was in my twenties.” He nodded tightly and clasped the sheriff’s shoulder and squeezed. “I get it.” They both looked at the picture once more before Sam turned away and walked to the kitchen. There, he found Lydia and Allison gathered around Melissa.

“No, I love it.” Allison was saying. “She did such a good job.”

“Love what?” Sam asked, reaching for a beer from the fridge and popping it open before taking a drink and turning back to Allison, Lydia and Melissa. Allison stepped away and Melissa looked over at Sam, eyebrow arched. Her face had been framed delicately with a certain amount of makeup that Sam couldn’t quite place, but her eyes seemed larger, her lips more pronounced, her eyebrows framed her face and-

Sam choked on his beer.

“This seems to be a running gag.” Melissa said as Sam cleared his throat.

He was trying to articulate something but nothing was making it out of his mouth. Finally he managed, “You look nice.”

Allison and Lydia both rolled their eyes but Melissa chuckled. “Thank you. It was all Lydia.”

“Well, you are already a beautiful woman, Ms. McCall. So it was very easy to do.” Lydia said with a smile and then she reached around Sam for a soda. She shot him another exasperated look and then Stiles and Scott walked in the kitchen.

“Hey mom-” Scott started and then stopped, mid-step. Stiles ran right into him but barely nudged him. “Hey, mom. You look nice.”

“Oh my god.” Allison muttered.

“Thank you Scott.” Melissa said. Sam was still staring.

“Yeah, you look, really great.” Sam said. Allison rolled her eyes and pulled Sam out of the kitchen and into the living room where Derek and Dean were setting the table and the sheriff looked to be having a very intense conversation with Cas. Allison began to take glasses out of the cupboard to set them alongside the dinnerware that Derek and Dean were setting.

Finally Derek huffed out a sigh and looked over at Allison and Dean. They both stared back, waiting for him to say something.

He shuffled over to them and looked over at Cas and the sheriff. Sam waited for Derek to say something before finally rolling his eyes and saying, “There is a time and place for the silence, Derek, but there is clearly something on your mind.”

“What was that thing, a couple months ago?” Derek finally asked. Dean shot Sam a look and Sam placed the plates he was holding down on the table.

“We don’t know. We _still_ don’t know.” Sam said. “I’ve looked but since then, there have been no attacks. Crime has actually dropped, distinctly, since Scott was attacked.” 

“And we don’t know- we can’t figure out-?” Derek asked.

“Look, the way I see it, it came for us, it didn’t kill us, and sometimes things get away.” Dean said with a shrug.

“What if it comes back?” Allison asked softly.

“For who? The wolf pack? Like to see them try. One of us? A Winchester?” Dean snorted. “Like I said, let’s see them try.”

“Dean that kind of attitude gets people killed.” Allison said.

“Eh, it’s not that bad.” Dean replied with a shrug.

Allison shook her head and Derek rolled his eyes. “Maybe Stiles can look some stuff over?” Derek suggested.

“Yeah, I think that would be good. He can come over some time this week and we can cover some stuff that I’ve been looking at.” Sam said, nodding.

Melissa came out of the kitchen just then, holding a chicken and Scott and Stiles followed after her, holding other dishes. Lydia followed them up, carrying two bottles in her hand and when the sheriff raised an eyebrow she smiled and said, “One for the adults, and one for us kiddies.”

Everyone gathered around the table and after much shuffling, Dean shoving Sam aside so he could sit between Cas and Derek, Derek shoving him aside so he could sit between Stiles and Dean, Allison snatching a chair out of his hands so she could sit between Scott and Lydia and the sheriff, who looked just as lost as Sam, finally claiming a spot between Cas and Lydia. Sam ended up sitting next to Melissa.

He looked up at Cas and Dean who were deeply in conversation, but Sam knew that smirk on Dean’s face. He promised himself to pretend that he was possessed later so that he could punch his brother in the face.

“This looks amazing.” Sam said, gesturing to the table. He placed his napkin on his lap and smiled at Melissa.

“Oh, uh, thanks. Got the recipe from a girl at work. She makes fantastic food, brings us stuff all the time, even caters our Christmas parties.”

“Do we, uh, say grace or something?” Stiles asked from his end of the table.

Everyone turned to Dean, who for some reason, turned to Sam. Everyone waited for Sam’s answer. He shot a look at Castiel who cleared his throat.

“I think, given our different backgrounds, that it would be more reasonable to simply give thanks to whatever higher being is up there for friendships, old and new,” Cas smiled first at Sam and then at Scott, “To let us be grateful for all the love that surrounds us,” Cas reached for Dean’s hand, “And for the strength to face each passing day with more wisdom and compassion than the day before.”

There was a soft moment of silence before the sheriff cleared his throat and raised his glass. “Truer words, Castiel.” He said. Everyone raised their glass to one another.

“Sam, would you mind-?” Melissa asked, gesturing to the chicken with a knife in her hand.

“Yeah, I can do that.” Sam said, taking the knife from her and standing. Quickly and efficiently he began to slice the chicken, putting aside the meat on a platter Melissa was holding off to the side for him. He did not miss the goofy smile on his brother’s face or the quick looks Scott and Stiles were shooting each other.

“So Sam, have you found a job around here?” The sheriff asked, cutting through the other conversations.

“Uh, no. Nothing yet. They are full up at the library and-”

“How would you like working with me?” Sheriff Stilinski asked.

“I’m sorry?” Sam said, the knife sliding precariously in his grasp.

“Yeah, Derek was telling me that you were pre-law back in Stanford. You’ve got a pretty good background in research, just the kind of thing we need in the department to dig things up on the people we are looking into.” The sheriff took the bottle of wine out of Scott’s hands and frowned at him.

“Like a consulting gig?” Dean asked, prodding the conversation forward when Sam seemed at a loss for words.

“Exactly.” The sheriff said. He locked eyes with Sam and said, “It seems like we could use someone like you, with your background and knowledge, around here.”

Sam cleared his throat. “Sure. Yeah, that sounds good.”

The sheriff looked satisfied. “Great. We’ll see you first thing on Monday.”

Dean looked impressed and Cas smiled.

Once the food had been ladened on everyone’s plate, they all fell into conversation, Scott, Allison and Lydia talking about school, Derek and Stiles talking about a movie they had seen the previous night and Cas and Dean talking about a camping trip they had planned for the weekend.

“Sounds like you’ll be alone this weekend.” Melissa said, catching snippets of Dean’s conversation.

“Nah, I’ll have Allison. But to have those two gone will be a relief.” Sam shook his head. “Living with newlyweds is kind of gross.”

“How long have they been married?” Melissa asked, skewering a piece of chicken.

“Less than a year.”

“How long have they known each other?” She asked.

Sam looked over at Dean and Cas and watched as his brother caught Castiel’s eye and tipped his head and smiled. Cas smiled back, slowly and gently and nodded. Sam couldn’t help but feel a sharp stab in his chest for all the times he had almost had what they did.

“It seems like they’ve known each other for centuries. Longer than either one of them should be alive.” Sam muttered, shaking his head.

“They’re best friends.” Melissa said, glancing up at them.

“No.” Sam said and shook his head. “I’m Castiel’s best friend. I’m Dean’s best friend. When they fight, they come to me to bitch about the other one. When they need to go present shopping for the other one, they come to me. When they can’t pick out a shirt to wear on date night, they come to me. I’m communal property between the two of them.” Sam paused and tore a roll in half. “But they haven’t invented a word for what Dean and Cas are to each other.”

Melissa smiled and tipped her glass at Sam. “It seems like you have a bit of a writer in you.”

“Only those trashy romance dollars you buy for a couple of bucks at the check out stand.” Sam said with a grin. “How’s the hospital treating you?”

“Well, I got out of my round in the infectious disease ward, so I count that as a win.” Melissa said, nodding. “But everything has been pretty smooth, lately.” Her brow furrowed. “Unexpectedly smooth, now that I think about it. The flu season was barely a blip. The last crazy thing we had was a three car pile up when it was really foggy a few weeks ago.”

“Isn’t that good?” Sam asked.

“Well, yes. I mean, yeah it is. But it’s strange. I mean, normally we get kids with broken bones, teenagers with stitches, fender benders, any number of weird accidents involving ladders and falling on things-” Melissa shook her head. “But everything has been so quiet lately that the ER nurses are being loaned out to other wards.”

Sam frowned as well. “That is interesting.”

“Everything is so… I don’t know, docile.” Melissa said. She shook her head and smiled. “But like you said, that’s a good thing, right?”

“Right.”

~~~

“You two will be ok?” Dean asked, one last time, as he shoved a pair of jeans in his duffel.

“We’ll be fine. Go take care of the poltergeist and you and Cas have a nice long weekend to yourself.” Allison said. She was draped over the side of her brother’s bed, a pillow shoved underneath her head. Castiel was restlessly braiding and unbraiding her hair. “I honestly think that Sam and I will be able to take care of ourselves. And the sheriff is just a phone call away. Lydia plans on staying the night one night. Sam wants to do a movie marathon. I’ve got a history test to study for with Stiles, it’ll be a normal weekend. You guys deserve one too.”

“We just worry that us leaving so soon after what happened to Scott-” Castiel started. “What if you need us? And you can’t get to us?”

“We’ve planned for that, Cas. We’ve gone over and over it.” Allison said. “Nothing will happen, we’ll have a boring weekend here, you and Dean will go save lives and everything will go on as it should.”

Castiel unbraided Allison’s hair once more and began again. Her eyes were drifting shut. “We’ve got our watches. You never take yours off. Sam and Dean will be in contact. I promise you, nothing will go wrong.”

~~~

Sam and Allison stood in the driveway next to Sam’s truck, waving Dean and Cas off. The day was cloudy and thunder cracked overhead.

“Good night to study.” Allison commented.

“Good night to watch that dinosaur documentary I’ve had saved.”

“Jurassic Park is not a documentary.”

Sam snorted. “Says you. When did you get your degree in dinosaur-ology?”

“Oh my god.” Allison said and turned back inside.

Sam threw himself on the couch that was officially his for the next four days and searched the DVR for the Jurassic Park saga he had saved on there. Finding it, he settled in, pressed play and began his movie.

~~~

“So, Allison’s alone this weekend.” Stiles said and glanced over at Scott.

“Uh, not really. Her biggest brother is there with her.” Scott and Lydia were sprawled on the floor, books scattered between the two of them. Scott was desperately trying to get his grades back up to get back on the lacrosse team. Lydia was helping and they were all sprawled out in Derek’s loft. The smell of coffee wafted through the air.

“Sam is the nicest one out of all of them.” Stiles said and chewed on a Twizzler.

“In my experience, it’s the nice ones you have to look out for.” Derek said. He glanced out the window as the lightning crashed outside. It lit up the outside world like the mid afternoon sun. “Jesus.” He muttered. The thunder shook the building slightly and he could smell the rain in the air.

Lydia shoved a notebook at Scott. “Everything I circled you need to redo.” She said.

Scott reached out for her notes and she passed them over to him. She looked up at Derek. “I’m getting hungry. Are you guys getting hungry?”

“We’re always hungry.” Derek said and yawned. He reached over for his phone where he kept a list of places they often ordered from. “What do you guys feel like eating?”

Stiles yawned and leaned away from Derek to peer around him at the storm outside. “Should we really make someone go out in a storm like this?”

“Well then it’s sandwiches from across the street.” Derek said. He pulled a menu out from the middle of the stack and regarded it for a moment before laying it aside.

“We can do that.” Scott said, laying face down on his open history book.

Derek leaned against the back of the couch.

Stiles laid his head on the headrest.

Lydia curled up on her side.

No one moved.

~~~

“I guess I have to remind myself that I can’t do doubles anymore.” Melissa said to the Sheriff and yawned. She rubbed at her face and the thunder crashed outside.

“We just aren’t the spring chickens we once were.” He agreed.

They sat down at the break room table, the sheriff’s notebook opened to a blank page. He was asking Melissa about her latest patient, a three year old who had received way too many injuries in the last year to be anything but suspicious.

“Speaking of spring chickens-” The sheriff started but Melissa raised her hand.

“Please. Not you too.” She said.

“He seems like a nice guy, is all I’m saying. Loaded, good looking, really tall-” The sheriff paused and covered his mouth with his hand as he yawned. “All I’m saying is that you can do a lot worse than Sam.”

Melissa nodded. “I have done a lot worse than Sam, remember?”

“Yeah, but you got Scott out of the deal so it wasn’t all bad.” The sheriff said. “Are you going to ask him out?”

“I’m not even sure he likes me. What grade are we in?” Melissa asked and yawned again.

“I could pass him a note in study hall.” The sheriff offered.

Melissa chuckled and that was the last thing she remembered before closing her eyes and laying her head down on the table.

~~~

History was boring. It just wasn’t her favorite subject to study. It never would be, she knew that. But she had to try. She still hoped to go to college, have a career or something for herself outside of hunting. And that just meant she had to do the boring crap that she didn’t want to. She could ask for Sam’s help, but she could already hear him snoring from the living room. A particularly loud crack of thunder sounded outside and it made her jump. She stood and went to the kitchen window.

The rain was coming down in sheets, and it blurred the window to the backyard. She frowned and thought she saw something move.

“Sam?” She said.

The only answer she got was another snore.

“Sam!” She called out.

He didn’t answer.

Every alarm in Allison’s head was going off and she reached for her watch and set the silent alarm off to alert Cas and Dean that there was trouble while she opened the drawer nearest to her. Underneath the drawer, there was a gun stashed away. She jerked at it, feeling the comforting weight of it in her hand. She cleared the hallway silently, seeing no one there. She crossed over to the living room where Sam was sleeping.

Sam was sprawled out gracelessly on the couch. He took up most of the space and looked completely at peace.

Standing over him was a guy, older than Allison, younger than Sam that looked remarkably familiar. There was something about the small smile on his face, his jaw, the set of his eyes-

“Who are you?” Allison demanded. “What have you done to my brother?”

The guy looked up, taking in the gun in Allison’s hand in one long, measured glance before looking down at Sam again. His hair fell over his eyes and his eyes were dispassionate. “My name’s Adam.” He said softly. “I’m your brother.”

Allison felt a burning prick in her neck and she staggered away. Behind her there was a man with a needle. He placed it on the shelf next to her and stepped forward. The world tilted sideways.

“Brother?” Allison mumbled, her tongue thick.

“Yes.” Adam said softly.

She fell and the large man with the needle caught her.

“I’m here to take you home.” Adam said softly.

~~~

Sam woke up when Dean slapped him a third time. Dean’s hand was stinging and Sam’s face felt like it was on fire. Castiel was standing there with a glass of water in his hand, both of their expressions caught somewhere between worry and anger.

“Dude, what the hell-” Sam muttered, feeling the fog of sleep lift, but only barely.

“Where’s Allison?” Dean asked, looking around.

“What’s going on-” Sam started. He felt drugged, weird and loopy. He tried to sit up but the room spun three different ways and he thought he was going to puke. “Did someone drug me?”

“Not unless they drugged the whole town. Everyone is asleep.” Dean said angrily.

“Asleep.” Sam said slowly. His brain was not catching up and he felt stupid.

“A bus driver and everyone in the bus, asleep. People in cars. People in the stores, they’re all asleep.” Castiel added.

Sam nodded. He felt dumb and slow, as though he were moving underwater. Castiel tugged him to his feet and he staggered sideways and Dean caught him.

“What the hell.” Sam muttered. “Where’s Allison?”

“We don’t know. We got here and it was just you. Front door was wide open. Her shoes, her coat, her phone, everything is here.” Dean said.

Sam staggered to the kitchen and opened the fridge. In there, he pulled out three of those energy drinks Dean kept around in case he needed a pick-me-up. He popped one open and drank it straight, blinking past the burn of the sugar and carbonation. The world straightened itself out a little. “I was in the living room, watching TV. Allison was in the kitchen, studying. I got tired, I was so freaking tired, I just closed my eyes-” Sam shook his head and opened the second drink. He drank it straight. “But it was weird because I only felt tired like that after an angel had been inside me, or we had fought against one the big guys, or that one time I did a triathlon. That’s how tired I was.” He paused and looked over at his brother and Cas. “Why can’t you find her, Cas?” He asked.

“My wings have been clipped, so to speak. Once we re-entered Beacon Hills, I lost all sense of everyone. I can’t find you or anyone from the pack. I can barely sense Dean.” Cas muttered.

“What is going on here?” Dean demanded.

Sam cracked another energy drink and thunder flashed outside.

“We have to find her.”

~~~

_Derek walked through a park on the sidewalk. He was alone, but he could occasionally see Scott through the trees, walking on his own path. Stiles was in front of him, just out of his reach. He could hear Lydia’s voice, rising and falling._

“ _Where am I?” He asked out loud. The trees and the light were soft and golden but there were no animals. His senses were dulled to the point that he felt almost blind and he tried to reach out for something. But whenever he came close enough to touch something, it slipped out of his grasp, too soft or moved by an unknown wind._

_Stiles looked over his shoulder and grinned. “Come on, Derek. It’s just up here.”_

“ _What is? Stiles, wait. Where are we?” Derek asked. He tried to make his feet move faster but he was stuck in that slow plodding pace, maddening in its monotony._

“ _We’re almost there.” Stiles replied and laughed. He turned a corner and then he was gone. Derek tried to go faster, to reach the corner that Stiles had turned, and looked around for Scott. He was gone. So was the soft light, the trees, the grass. It was dark and he was cold and wet. His face stung-_

“Wake up!” Lydia screamed at him and hit him again. She stumbled to her feet and got the pitcher that was next to Derek and filled it with the cold tap water she had left running in the kitchen. She filled it and made her way back to Derek who was stirring now. She threw it in his face for the fourth time. She fell to her knees next to him, soaking her leggings through. She hit him again, as hard as she could. She tried to remember the way Dean taught her how to hit, _from the shoulder, not from the wrist._ Derek finally groaned and rolled over. 

He was on the floor instead of the couch. Scott was sprawled out next to him, bleeding from his mouth and the couch where Stiles was was empty. And soaked with-

“Oh god.” Derek said. Even drugged he could smell it. From Lydia’s face, he knew she could smell it too.

“Where is he?” He rasped out and coughed. “What’s wrong with Scott?”

Lydia rubbed her face and shook her head. Her makeup was smeared and there was a bruise forming fresh on her face. “I don’t know. I remember falling asleep on the floor and I woke up when something hit me and there were two guys dragging Stiles out of the room and Scott was trying to fight them but he was too slow. Like he was just waking up. They beat him up, he looked a lot worse a little while ago, and I fell asleep again.”

“How did you wake up?” Derek asked, clawing at the couch to stand. He left deep gouges in it, shredding it with his nails.

“I was having this dream and it felt like someone was dying and I started to scream-” Lydia shrugged. “I woke myself up.”

“Who, Lydia?” Derek asked, managing to make it to the steps where Scott was still asleep.

“I don’t get names, Derek. I just get this feeling. And it doesn’t go away until I-” She stopped herself again and the lightning lit up the sky outside.

“Until you scream. I get it.” He nodded. He leaned over Scott and sniffed. It felt like his nose was stuffed with cotton, but there was something there for sure. He rubbed at his nose and leaned closer and smelled at his throat, his chest.

“What are you doing?” Lydia asked, struggling to sound calm.

“Someone or something drugged us. I should be able to sniff it out, but whatever they used dulled my senses. I can almost get it, but it’s just-”

“Out of reach.” Lydia nodded. “That’s how I felt when I kept searching for a name. Like it’s locked up in cage or something. I can’t get it.”

Derek glanced over at Lydia. They had a strange relationship, to be sure. Stiles was stuck between the two of them like two wolves fighting over the last scrap of food. But Derek would be damned if he wouldn’t fight to the death for this girl. She was smart and a fighter on top of it. Her cold calculation had come into service more than once.

Derek gave up trying to figure out what it was that was in them and leaned over to Scott’s ear and growled, low and deadly in his chest. Scott woke up at once, swinging and gasping.

“Stiles-” He said struggling to sit up.

“We know.” Derek nodded. Scott looked over to the couch where it was soaked in blood.

“My head.” Scott moaned. “What happened? The last thing I remember is a couple of guys and then they had Stiles and I tried-” Scott shook his head again and groaned. “I tried, Derek.”

“I know you did.” Derek said and sat back. Lydia was fumbling around in the kitchen and trying to pour some coffee in some cups. She drank the first mug, scalding hot and then brought two more over to Derek and Scott.

“What’s wrong with us?” Scott asked. “I can barely smell you. I can’t get a hint of Stiles.”

“Whatever they used on us, it’s still affecting us. I’m not sure what it is.” Derek took a mug from Lydia and she made her way back to the kitchen, starting another pot.

They were silent and it was a good thing. Otherwise, Derek wasn’t sure he or Scott would have heard the elevator start and make its way up the shaft. He scrambled for the coffee table and felt around for a gun there. He jerked it out of its hiding place as the doors opened and aimed. Scott stood and Lydia had a meat cleaver in her hand.

Dean stepped out of the elevator, gun aimed at the floor. Derek let out a sigh of relief and slumped back against the table. It skidded away from him and he landed on his back. He stayed there for a minute and waited for the room to stop spinning.

“What happened?” Castiel demanded, striding through the room over to Derek and hauling him to his feet. He steadied him and waited until Derek’s world stopped spinning.

“Lydia just woke us up.” Derek said. “What happened with you?”

“What happened here?” Castiel asked, looking at the couch.

“Stiles.”

“Where is he?”

Lydia and Scott exchanged a look and Derek looked out the window. “We don’t know.”

“Fuck.” Dean said. He threw his duffel on his bag and pulled another bag out of it. He threw it at Cas who began to pull out chains and handed them out. They were engraved with a sigil and were heavy.

“Steel?” Lydia asked.

“Coated in titanium and engraved with my sigil. I can find you now.” Cas replied. “And they are really hard to destroy.” He added.

“You can’t find him?” Scott asked slowly. Cas had obviously been their first call.

“No.” Cas said quietly. “Allison is also gone. We came here on the off chance that she would leave the house without her phone, coat or shoes.”

“Dean-” Sam said quietly. He had pressed two fingers to the couch where the blood was. He pulled his hand away, red. “This is a lot of blood. It’s still wet.”

“You haven’t been out long.” Dean said. He took a drink from the mug that Lydia offered him. He could feel whatever was floating around begin to effect him. He was slowing down. It was the only explanation of why they were operating so slowly, not panicking. “Maybe we can start at the hospital. Melissa would know how to look for this, right?” He asked Scott.

“I don’t know. She’s an ER nurse.” Scott shrugged.

“Let’s start there.” He insisted.

“The sheriff, he has to know what’s going on. With us, with Allison and Stiles.” Lydia said. She was working on her third cup of coffee. Sam opened his own duffel and pulled out another energy drink and offered it to Derek.

“It’s not just you.” Dean said. “It’s the whole town. We have to get a move on.” He shook his head and held his hand out for a power drink as well. He was grateful that Sam had insisted on stopping at the convenience store down the street before moving on.

“We’ll stop at the hospital.” Dean concluded. “You guys find the sheriff. Call us the minute you have him and don’t let each other out of your sight, all right?”

“If we aren’t letting each other out of our sight, should we even split up? Whoever is out there is immune to what’s screwing with us, Dean. I don’t think we should be splitting up now.”

“It’ll save time.” Dean argued.

“And we might lose more people.” Sam argued back. He saw the flash of worry in Dean’s eyes and knew he had won.

Dean huffed. “Fine. Stick together. We’ll start at the hospital, see if there is anything we can do to get this crap out of us.” He rubbed his face. “All I want to do is lay down and take a nap.”

Derek shoved the gun he had into the back of his jeans. “Let’s go.”

Lydia was already pouring the rest of the coffee into a thermos. They all headed to the doors.

~~~

Downstairs they took Derek’s Camaro and Dean’s Impala. They made it to the hospital quickly. It was weird seeing the streets empty and people laying on the ground, huddled against the rain, asleep next to their coffees in shops, leaned up against the bus they were riding in. Scott felt like there was something urgent pressing down on him, something that was trying to get through his clouded thought process, something that was telling him to hurry. He shot a glance over his shoulder at Lydia and her face expressed the same thought. She wanted to hurry, to get to their friends, but she didn’t know how.

“Are they-?” Scott asked.

“They’re alive. As far as I can tell.” Lydia replied.

“How are you feeling?” Derek asked, glancing in the rear view mirror. It was a loaded question. Was he asking about Lydia or if she could tell if the other two were still alive?

“Still alive.” Lydia replied, answering both questions at the same time.

“Let’s keep it that way.” Scott said as they pulled into the parking lot.

They headed inside, following the other three. Cas headed straight to the front desk where a heavy set man was asleep over the schedule. Cas shoved him off of it where he fell to the floor with a heavy thump and a deep snore. He flipped through it impatiently, looking for Melissa’s name. He found it.

“She was on break.” He reported.

Scott headed towards the back of the hospital where he knew that his mom would be, probably eating lunch with another nurse. He pushed open the doors to the break room and his mom was there, slumped over the table and the sheriff was across from her, snoring loudly, leaning back in his chair.

“Oh god, they’re here.” Lydia said, grateful. She went over to the sheriff first, pinching his nose shut and making him sit up and gasp for air.

“What the hell, Lydia?” He demanded.

“Oh look you’re awake.”

Scott was at his mother’s side shaking her.

“That’s not going to work.” Dean said, pushing Scott aside gently and leaning Melissa back in her chair. He covered her mouth and nose with his hand and then stumbled back when Sam shoved him back and Scott stood between the two brothers and his mother.

“What the hell man?” Dean said. “I wasn’t going to hurt her.”

“I’ll wake her.” Sam growled. He turned back to Melissa and with one arm, stood her up. She muttered something but didn’t wake. “Turn on the water, Scott.” He said, gesturing to the sink in the corner of the room. He got Melissa there and soaked some paper towels with the cold water and wiped her face. “Melissa.” He said softly. She muttered something else and raised a hand to push Sam’s hand away. “No, come on. You have to wake up.” Sam wiped at her face again and then left the cold, soaking wet napkins on her neck and began to wipe her face with his wet hand. She finally opened her eyes and blinked up at Sam.

“What the fuck is going on?” She asked, her words thick and slurred.

“That’s what we are trying to figure out.” Scott said and pressed an energy drink into her hand. “Drink that. You’ll be able to make sense after.”

~~~

“Unless the drinking supply for the town was poisoned, I don’t know what else could do this to the entire town. And even that wouldn’t account for everyone falling asleep at the same time. There are too many variables. The weight of the patient, if they’ve eaten, any number of things.” Melissa said and shook her head.

“So it’s mystical.” Castiel concluded. He nodded, as though this were the most reasonable thing.

Scott opened his mouth to try and explain away Castiel’s comment but Derek beat him to it.

“Well, obviously.” He said. “But we need to know what the root of it is so that we can undo it, or find a sigil against it, or a rune or something. I don’t know.”

Dean was chewing on his lower lip and then turned to Lydia. “Can you do a location spell?” He asked.

“I’ve only read up on them, I haven’t actually done one.” She said. “It’s not hard, but I need something of each of them.”

“Ok, wait hold on.” Melissa said and held up a hand. “Is everyone here really stoned? What are you talking about? Sigils? Runes? Spells?”

Derek and Dean turned to Scott at once. “You didn’t tell her?” They asked at the same time.

“Wow, that _is_ creepy.” Sam said. 

“I was going to but-” Scott stumbled around his words.

“Ok, there is no time for explanation.” Lydia said. She turned to Melissa. “Castiel is angel. A literal angel. From heaven. Scott and Derek are werewolves. The whole changing during the full moon bit-”

“Wait-” Melissa said turning pale and looking at her son.

“I’m a banshee. I can feel when people die and find their bodies. Sometimes. Dean is the Righteous Man, who was supposed to stop the apocalypse from happening. Cas rescued him from hell. Sam is supposed to be a general for the armies of hell but it didn’t work out.” Lydia took a deep breath. “They hunt the things like Scott and Derek but not Scott and Derek.”

Melissa looked around to everyone who hadn’t objected to Lydia’s quick overview of everyone. “What?” She asked finally.

Derek shook his hand out and flashed his claws. Scott sighed and looked at the ground. When he looked up at his mom, his eyes were glowing gold.

“Oh god.” Melissa whimpered. She took several steps back only to run right into Castiel. She took a large step away from the entire group until she was backed against some shelves.

Castiel held his hand out and she watched as his blade appeared in his hand. She sat down hard in her chair. “Oh god.” She said again. She looked at the sheriff who could only shrug. He had known for awhile now. It didn’t concern him as much as it used to. They were still kids;  _his_ kids. 

“But we can deal with this later.” Dean said gently. “It’s a lot, we know. And we’ll give you the full rundown later, but right now, we need you to help us find Allison and Stiles.”

“What am I supposed to do?” She asked.

“Is there anything you can give us? Something to shake this off?” Derek asked.

She looked down at the ground. She was silent for a long time. Finally she nodded. “Yeah, there is.”

~~~

Derek sat on a bed in the empty ER. Everyone was gathered around him and Melissa finally joined them, syringe in hand. “You ready?” She asked.

He nodded.

She stuck the needle into his thigh and pushed the plunger down with steady pressure. It didn’t take long. Pretty soon Derek was panting and his eyes were flashing red. He nodded. “Yeah, that did it.” He said.

Melissa put the needle down. “Next?” She asked.

Dean stepped up and rolled his sleeve up. She repeated the same thing and his face flushed and he looked around. “Adrenaline. Better than coffee.”

They all made a single file line and Melissa shot them up individually. Sam was last and he glanced away when she pulled the needle out.

“General of hell’s armies doesn’t like needles?” Melissa scoffed.

“Former general, thank you very much.” Sam corrected as he felt the burn of the adrenaline in his shoulder.

“Is there a retirement package with that job?”

“I just declined the offer altogether.” Sam said, shaking his hands out and jumping from one foot to the other.

“Ready?” Derek asked from the door.

“We’ll keep in touch.” Scott said, pressing a kiss to his mother’s forehead before following Derek out the door.

“Maybe keep the coffee on?” Lydia asked. She squeezed Melissa’s hand. “For you more than us.”

Dean and Lydia left then but Cas paused on his way out. “I’ll look after them. I’ll bring your children back to you,” He looked from the sheriff to Melissa. “Both of your children. I promise.”

The sheriff nodded and looked down. “Bring my son back, Castiel.”

Sam waited until Cas was out the door. “Arm yourselves. Barricade yourselves somewhere but keep a phone on you. If we need you-”

“I’ll be there.” The sheriff replied immediately.

“We both will.” Melissa said.

Sam nodded. “I’ll see you in a little bit.”

~~~

They started at Dean’s house. They searched everything but could find nothing that would lead them to Allison or Stiles.

The same at Derek’s loft.

“Can’t you get a scent?” Dean asked.

“The rain-” Scott said and shook his head. “It’s washing everything away.”

“What about a locator spell?” Sam suggested. He looked around Derek’s loft. “I would need a map of the town, some salt, a few other herbs, but we can try it.”

Dean nodded. “Let’s do it. What do you need?”

Sam gave them a quick rundown of the list of ingredients while Derek and Lydia dug around the loft for a map. Dean, Cas and Scott left a few moments later for a nearby store and Derek laid out a map.

“Derek, is there anyone you know that would try to get at you through Stiles?” Sam asked. “Maybe if we could narrow down a list of suspects, we can narrow down places to look.”

“I imagine my list is as long as yours.” Derek replied.

“Well, that idea is fucked then.” Sam replied.

Moments later the other arrived, their arms loaded with way more than Sam needed. He mixed everything he knew from memory and spread it over the map. He took his lighter and carefully lit the edge of the map, reciting the words as the map began to burn. In theory, and normally in practice this was not the first time Sam had done this, it would burn away every part of the map until all that was left was the location of who they were looking for.

Instead, it blew up, tearing apart the table it was laying on and throwing everyone back.

“Was that supposed to happen?” Scott asked as he slowly sat up.

“No.” Dean groaned as he and Cas sat up.

Sam pulled a shard of wood from his shoulder and winced. He looked at the demolished table and what was left of his team. “I think there is something much bigger at work here.”

~~~

They were underground, Allison could tell that much. Other than that, she knew almost nothing. There were no windows so there was no way of telling whether it was night or day or even how much time had passed. She evened out her breath, willing herself not to panic. Her hands were cuffed behind her and the chair she sat in was old and wooden.

“My name is Allison Winchester. My brothers are Sam and Dean. I live in Beacon Hills. I am a trained killer. My parents were Argents and I will not panic. My name is Allison Winchester. My brothers are Sam and Dean…” She whispered to herself. She must have repeated it several dozen times before she felt the welling panic in her chest recede. “I am a trained killer.” She whispered. She opened her eyes and held her breath for a moment, listening for anything that might help her.

She heard someone breathe.

They were not close to her, in fact, they were probably on the other side of the room. They were not moving. Their breathing was irregular.

“Who’s there?” She asked. She squinted into the darkness but it was only vague shapes that she could see.

There was no reply.

“Fuck this.” Allison said to herself. She stood, as best she could, cuffed to a chair, and threw herself backwards, taking most of the weight on her shoulders and upper back, but breaking the chair around her. She stood and quickly brought her hands forward, then pulled a pin from her hair, picking the lock on her cuff and undoing them.

It took her less than a minute.

She felt around for a sharp edge of the broken chair and began to slowly approach the other person.

“Just tell me who you are and why I’m here.” She said softly, slowly approaching the breathing.

Suddenly, every scary movie she had ever seen flashed before her eyes and she prayed to whoever might be listening that this was a person and not something else.

The person moaned.

“Who _are you_?” She demanded. 

There was a weak cough and a sudden jerk. Allison heard the cuffs clink together and then against something wooden, she guessed a chair like hers.

“Oh, no. No, no, no.” Stiles said.

“Stiles?” Allison whispered.

“Allison?”

“Oh my god.” She whispered and rushed to the other side of the room. She reached out blindly, tripped over him and stood back up, and hugged him tightly.

“Allison, where are we, what’s going on here?” He asked. There was a creeping panic in his voice and she could relate.

“I don’t know. Wait, hold still, let me get you out of here.” She quickly picked the lock on his cuff and tucked the pin back in her hair. “What do you remember?”

Stiles groaned and Allison knew he was feeling the exact same way she was. Nauseous, with a pounding headache and aches and vagues pains everywhere.

“Just this guy. He was blonde. We were all asleep when he came in. I only woke up when this big guy made me stand up. The other one, the blonde, was standing over Lydia and he looked kind of sad, I don’t know. It was weird. Then he asked me who I was and I told him to go screw himself and then the big guy had a needle and that’s it.” Stiles took a deep breath and reached for Allison. She let him pull her into his arms. He was looking for comfort, something he usually found in Derek or Scott, someone to touch, even if it was just a brief clap on the shoulder to Scott or something a little longer from Derek. “Who is he?”

Allison shook her head and buried her face in his neck. It would be a lie if she wasn’t in need of a little comfort herself. “He said some weird stuff. He said he is my brother but Sam and Dean they never mentioned anyone-”

“Sam and Dean had a whole life before they met you. We dabble in the supernatural. What if he was someone who died and-”

“Oh! So close Stiles.” A voice interrupted from overhead. Dim lights flipped on and Stiles and Allison looked around.

“What the fu-” Stiles started.

Allison didn’t understand it either. They were outside, in the woods. Bare trees hung around them and the full moon was above them. The chairs they had been sitting in were gone and it was only dirty and dead grass at their feet now.

“Something special I cooked up for Allison but you can enjoy it with her, Stiles.” The blonde guy said as he walked out from somewhere deeper in the woods. Allison turned from Stiles and gripped his hand.

“Who are you?” She asked.

“I told you.” He said. He shrugged. “But you can call me Adam.”

“Sam and Dean-”

“Never said anything about me. They’ve forgotten all about me.” The guy said. He grinned, wild. “Why do you think they never saw this coming?”

“You aren’t my brother.” Allison said, shaking her head.

“Don’t be like that.” Adam said. “John Winchester got around. You and me? We got off lucky. We aren’t the collateral damage that Sam and Dean are.”

“Where are we?” Stiles demanded.

Adam’s smile widened and in an instant the scenery changed to an amusement park filled with families. “Oh, it depends. Wherever I feel like we are. My mom brought me here when I was a kid. Cotton candy, rides, the whole nine.” Silently, the scenery changed again. They were in graveyard. “And this is where my brothers brought me. Michael used me as his sword to take down Lucifer. Sam, somehow, took control for a second and sent us plunging into the cage, together. Sam and I. With Michael and Lucifer.” Adam walked to a bare patch of earth and frowned down at it.

“What are you talking about?” Allison demanded.

“Dean was supposed to be the meat suit for the archangel Michael in the big battle against Lucifer. But Castiel, Sam, this old guy Bobby, they all talked him out of it. So the angels,” Adam smiled. “The angels, they resurrected me, because by now I had already died because of the Winchesters, they resurrected me and promised me Heaven for my mom and I if I did this one thing for them. I did. I did it for them and got thousands and thousands of years in hell, trapped with two of the strongest beings on the planet. They had nothing better to do than to torture me.”

“You just said that both you and Sam fell into the cage.” Stiles said.

“Castiel came for Sam. Sure, the guy forgot something, but no one’s perfect right?”

Allison glanced at the tombstones near her feet.  _Adam Milligan_ was to the right of  _Kate Milligan_ . 

“They left you there, so you came back to hurt me to hurt them?”

“It’s not a complicated James Bond villain plan, I’ll give you that.” Adam said, nodding. “But it’s enough to make Derek hate the Winchesters,” Adam’s eyes slid to Stiles. “And it will be enough to make Dean and Sam hate each other. And Dean without Sam? Ah, well. He’ll push everyone away. Even Castiel.” Adam strode up close and pushed Stiles out of the way when he tried to get in between the two of them. “And when all he can see is your dead and broken body at night, when he tries to drink it all away, when Castiel is gone and when Sam is gone and all his friends are gone, that’s when I’ll find him and kill him. Slowly.”

Allison met his eyes and said flatly, “You can’t break me.”

“I’ve trained for thousands of years.” Adam whispered. “Let me try.”

~~~

Down at his car, Dean skidded to a stop. A broad shouldered man stood there, impervious to the rain. He was looking away from the Winchesters and the rest of the group. As they slowly approached, Derek and Scott raised a hand to their noses.

“Jesus.” Scott said.

“Vampire.” Derek corrected, his eyes flashing red.

“You smell like wet dog, Dean.” The man drawled.

“Benny?” He asked slowly.

He dipped his head and turned around. His fangs were showing a little bit but Sam couldn’t help but notice that he was trying to make it go away. “Hey brother.”

“What are you doing here?” Dean demanded, reaching for his gun.

“Nothing that you need that for.” Benny said. “I heard the name Winchester and listened to down below. I came running as fast as I could.”

“Do you know where they are?” Lydia demanded.

Benny gave her a long look that she returned. “Spit fire, that one. Reminds me of my daughter. And no, I do not.”

“What are you here for?” Sam asked.

“To give you what information I have. If y’all will just stop for a minute and _listen_.” 

Derek held out his arm in front of Dean. “We’re listening.”

“Least one of you has brains in this bunch.” Benny said. He glanced at the ground. “There’s something in this rain, it’s what’s making y’all sleep. Stay out of it, as much as you can. The person who took your gal-”

“She’s my little sister, Benny.” Dean said, a note of desperation in his voice.

“Then she’s your gal, ain’t she?” Benny went on without an answer, “The one who took your gal had a lot of magic in him. Old magic. He shifted things downstairs radically. Demons are crawling up at a faster rate. He broke something, something that can’t be easily repaired to get up here to get to the two of you.” Benny looked at Sam and Dean. “Do you know anyone who could have pulled that off?”

“Man the list of things down in Hell that want us dead could fill up ten phone books.” Dean said. “Give us something we can work with.”

“No, Dean.” Sam said. “Not that long. What Benny is talking about, someone who could break open Hell like that, that could use forces of nature against us, that’s a lot of magic. _Old_ magic.” 

“Now I know why they call you the smart one.” Benny said.

“How old are we talking?” Sam asked.

“Older than your angel. It existed before man, before time.”

“No.” Cas whispered. “They couldn’t-”

Benny nodded, following his line of thinking. “They could and they did, my friend.”

“Can you help us?” Derek asked.

Benny nodded, slowly. “I could, but I think I’ll hang back for this one.” He said.

“Benny-” Dean said, starting forward.

Benny looked at the hand Dean was holding out and caught the glint of silver there. “He made an honest man out of you, did he?” He said looking to Castiel. “Good. That’s good.” And he turned, and he left.

Derek and Scott watched him.

“Well, that was wildly unhelpful.” Lydia snapped.

“Who is it, Cas?” Dean said, spinning to look at Cas who looked like he wanted to be anywhere else in the universe.

“Who did we send to hell that was powerful enough to do this, Dean? Shift things around downstairs?” Sam supplied, his hands already pushing his wet hair out of his face.

“Why did they take Stiles?” Scott asked.

“Why would anyone take Stiles from your pack?” Sam said, spinning to look at Scott. “To break you. Same reason they would take Allison from us.”

“They were caged.” Dean whispered.

“Yeah, well. So was I.” Sam said, digging in the bag slung over his arm for another energy drink. “Power. That’s what we are looking for.”

“That.” Lydia said, raising a finger to Sam. “That I can work with.” She looked at Dean. “We need to go to my house. Now.”

~~~

Allison thought of her mom, who of all people, would probably be the last person she should think of. Her mother was more often than not cold and calculating. She rarely showed affection, leaving that up to Allison’s father.

But for her lack of parental affection, Victoria Argent taught Allison all she knew about how to withstand torture. She herself had been captured herself for a time and had come back, according to Allison’s father, changed. Allison always figured that this was what came from it.

Adam started by ripping her earrings out.

Stiles screamed and kicked his feet out. He was tied to a post just off to the left of Allison, giving him a full view of what was happening to her. Allison blinked and looked down at her bare feet. Her toes were gold and she had painted them when Lydia was checking her math homework. Allison took a deep breath. Lydia had told her that Allison was the only one with a brain in this town and “thank god that there’s more than just me.” She had smiled her Lydia smile, to let Allison know that it was a genuine compliment, not the kind that she often offered backhandedly to everyone else.

Adam slapped her.

Allison felt her teeth clack together, hard, and thought of her father and his fear of the dentist. Not much scared him, having gone up against the gamut of supernatural creatures in his life, but dentists did. He was fastidious about dental health to avoid going.

Adam gripped her chin and leaned in. “You stay with me. Do you hear me?”

“Sure.” Allison said, using the polite voice she reserved for her teachers.

“Allison.” Stiles said, desperate to get loose, pulling against the handcuffs that bound him to the post.

“Stiles.” She chided gently. “It’ll be fine.” She felt the blood from her torn ear dripping down her neck.

“I’ve broken better than you.” Adam hissed.

Allison shifted in her seat but chose not to reply. Instead, she lowered her head and stared at her jeans. She had bought them when her and Sam had gone to the mall that very first time. She remembered being scared and missing her parents so much it was like an ache in her chest. She remembered being grateful to Sam for not making her talk, for understanding, for being a solid presence.

Adam waved one of the guys at the door over. He gestured to the hook above Allison’s head and the man gripped the shackles that bound Allison’s hands together and lifted her and the chain up. She was standing now on the tips of her toes, her entire torso exposed. She had never felt more alone than she had in that single moment. Stiles was still yelling for her, kicking his feet out, pulling at the handcuffs. He was crying and yanking at his arms. They laid a pink towel over her face and there was a pitcher of water thrown over it.

“ _The thing about torturers, that you should understand, is that they are all cowards. They see and know that they cannot possibly handle you in a hand to hand fight. So they will tie you up and try to break you.” Victoria whispered to her daughter. Then she leaned over Allison and placed her hands directly on her thighs, where she knew Allison had taken a severe beating before. “But you should know that you are an Argent and you are utterly unbreakable.”_

She gasped for air and then there was more water pouring over the towel. She didn’t kick and she didn’t waste time on trying to fight it out. She tried to even out her heart rate, she tried to remember all the things her mother had taught her.

Not only was she an Argent, she was a Winchester.

“ _From here on out, whatever you fight, whoever you fight, you are going to fight the things that hide; the things that attack only when your guard is down. You know that.” Dean said. “And sometimes the darkness will win, but as long as there is a Winchester out there, as long as there is one of us breathing, there is hope. You are that hope now, Allison.” He had gripped her by her upper arms and she had nodded. “Are you ready?” He asked._

She held tight to those words, hope and unbreakable, even as her lungs began to burn and tears were falling down her cheeks. Even when she could swear she could feel her father’s arms around her and her mother whispering strength in her ears, she held tight to them.

Eventually, Adam let her down and they shackled her once more to the ground. She dragged in deep breath after deep breath and when she looked up at Stiles, he was canted off to the side, lip bleeding freely and head thrown to the side.

She felt a fire light inside of her. Stiles hadn’t been brought up like them, he didn’t have the wolf powers that his friends did, he didn’t even have all the hard shell that Lydia possessed. Allison had figured Stiles to be the heart and the humor of the group, grounding them when they needed it, loving them all even when they didn’t deserve it.

“ _No matter what happens, they will go after what you love. They think that going after and hurting and sometimes killing someone you love will make you give up.” Sam had glanced over at Cas and Dean watching a movie, fingers loosely intertwined. “But that never stops us. It makes us stronger, it makes us angrier. Don’t lose that spark because you’ll need it.”_

“Stiles.” She said. He twitched but otherwise didn’t move. “Stiles, can you hear me?” She said. Adam had left the room up the stairs, leaving them with only one of the guys.

“Nrgh.” Stiles said. He turned his head and spit, blood spattering the cement. He pulled himself up and looked at her through a black eye she hadn’t seen yet. “Oh, man. Your brothers are gonna be _pissed_.” He said. 

“Yeah, well, your boyfriend and best friend are going to be pretty mad too.” Allison said.

“This?” Stiles said and gestured to his face. “This is fine.”

“Well then we won’t discuss how your girlfriend will feel about it.” Allison said, teasing now.

“Don’t toy with my emotions during torture, my friend. A man can only handle so much.” He was looking around them at anything they could use to get out. She shook her head. She had been over the room more times than she could count. Adam was one who did not underestimate them, for once. He met her eyes and she saw, for the first time, that he was scared. “Will they find us?” He asked.

Allison bit her lip and looked down.

She heard Stiles sight and the shift of the metal links of his shackles. “Ok.” He finally said. “Ok.”

~~~

In a room that was too feminine for any of them to rightfully be in, Lydia pulled out a trunk from underneath her bed. She pushed them all to the far edge of her room, where she ordered them to stay or this wouldn’t work.

“Lydia-” Cas started.

“Nope. Not hearing it, Cas. I’m not.” She said and looked at him hard. She began to pull out small boxes and packages and candles from the trunk and drew a circle around her. “She’s a goddess. She’s _their_ goddess,” And nodded at Sam and Dean, “And she will help me.” 

“In exchange for what?” Cas pressed.

“My devotion.” Lydia said. “I could pledge Allison’s devotion as well. We all know that Artemis has a thing for female hunters.”

“Artemis.” Derek said slowly.

“Goddess of the hunt. And if there is anything she likes more, it’s hunting something that is very, very hard to catch.” Lydia had thrown the things in the bowl and held her hand out to Dean. “Lighter.” She demanded.

Dean hesitated and then Lydia snapped at him, “Lighter, Dean!” He finally handed it to her and Lydia lit the bowl in front of her, bowed her head and began to chant.

Moments later, the bowl spit out a bright blue flame, the lights went out and there was someone right in front of Derek.

“Lydia Martin.” A honeyed voice said. It sent shivers down Derek’s back and Scott reached for Derek, pulling at his upper arm. “You are a flame that grows brightest when it’s dark.”

“Goddess.” Lydia said, her head bowed, not looking up.

“You called me. What is it that you think you’ll get from me?” Artemis asked. She had long, thick dark hair and her skin was tanned. She wore black pants and a tank top and there was a knife attached to her thigh. There was a bow in her hand and arrows in the other.

“My best friend-”

“Allison Argent. Allison Winchester. Same girl.” Artemis clipped out and nodded. “She was trained under some of the best and was taken. You wish to find her.”

Lydia nodded but did not move.

“What do you offer me?” Artemis asked softly. Then tension became thicker and Lydia shuddered.

“Myself. And Allison. Our utter and complete devotion.” Lydia replied immediately.

Artemis hummed. “But you belong to another.”

“I belong to no one but myself.” Lydia replied, finally raising her head and standing.

“No, my darling girl. In the world you occupy now, you have a pack. You belong to the pack and the pack belongs to you. I cannot take what is already claimed. I am no common thief.”

“Take the pack.” Derek said immediately.

Artemis turned to Derek and looked him up and down. “You are their alpha.” She hummed and reached out and stroked his forehead. There was no shift just their features wolf all of a sudden; both him and Scott. “You can offer me part of the pack.” She nodded. But she turned to Dean and looked at him. His hand was already on his gun. “And you can offer me the rest of the pack.”

“I- what?” Dean said.

“Give me your pack and the Alpha’s pack and we have a deal. I will take you where you need to go.” Artemis said.

“Fine.” Sam said.

Artemis raised an eyebrow.

“Yes. Take us.” Dean said.

Artemis reached down for Lydia and took her hand. “Let’s go.”

~~~

When Adam came back down, Allison had made up her mind. She looked at Stiles and smiled. “You’ll be ok.” She promised quietly.

Adam skipped down the stairs and stopped in front of Allison. In his hands he had a hammer. He twirled it in his fingers. “Ready for round two?” He asked, jovial. “You know, dad would be kind of surprised to see us here-”

“John Winchester is _not_ my father.” Allison said with a sneer. “John Winchester got my other DNA donor pregnant but they are not my parents. You are not my brother.” She said and spat in his face. 

Adam, looking a little surprised, reared back and snapped for a napkin. One of the guys provided it to him. He wiped his face and the cool mask was back on his face. “You can deny it all you want, Allison, but it’s true. John was your father as much as he was mine, as much as he was Dean and Sam’s.”

Allison sat up as straight as she could and looked into Adam’s eyes. “My father is Chris Argent. He is a hunter, a fighter and soldier. He taught me everything I know. He died protecting me. My mother was Victoria Argent. She was a general, a leader and a fighter. She died fighting.  _They_ are my parents, not that piece of shit John Winchester that you insist on worshiping.” 

“Your blood is everything-” Adam said, kneeling in front of her.

“Blood means nothing!” Allison screamed. “You are a coward! Your father was a coward! You are the worst pieces of him with a fucked up haircut!” She fought against her chains. “You are a coward and you can’t even face me without any of your tricks because you know that I will kill you!”

Adam sat back and looked at her. “You are a Winchester.”

“I only belong to my brothers and my pack. I have nothing of you or John Winchester in me.” She hissed, cold and hard, just like she learned from her mother.

Adam gripped her by the back of her neck. “You’d be surprised, little sister. You’re a lot like our dear old daddy right now.”

“Let me go and fight me, you coward.” She said her voice flat.

He snorted. “You think I’m stupid?”

“Can I offer my opinion on that one?” Stiles asked.

“Come on. You spent years in hell? Let’s see what you can do against what little girl.” She threw herself against the chains again.

Adam sat back and looked at her. He strode over to Stiles and there was a switchblade in his hand.

“Dean and Sam don’t even like him. His death does nothing to them.” Allison said, watching the blade at Stiles’ throat.

“But what about you, little sister?” Adam asked, looking at her.

Allison tried to emulate her mother’s look. “He’s an annoying little shit. He never shuts up. Kill him. I don’t care.”

“Pain is pain. Who cares for him?”

Allison turned her head and yawned. She shrugged. “I don’t know, his dad? Maybe?”

Adam stood suddenly and walked to one of them men in his charge. He spun the knife once in his hand before slamming it into the side of the man’s throat. Stiles screamed and Allison had to bite her own cry back. Instead, she forced herself to watch impassively as the man drowned on his own blood.

“What was that for?” Allison asked.

“He told me that this skinny one was the most important.” Adam wiped the knife off on the dead guy’s shirt and flicked it close. “He gave me false information. Or correct information and his death is your fault.” He raised his eyebrows at her and shrugged. “Doesn’t matter to me either way.” He snapped his fingers at the man behind him. “Keys. She’s going to end up dead either way. Might as well give me a warm up for my brothers.”

The man handed Adam the keys and Adam grinned as he unlocked Allison’s chains and stepped back.

“Let’s see what you’ve got.”

~~~

Artemis directed them to a house in an abandoned development area. “She’s in the basement of the house at the end of the block.” As everyone turned to run, she stopped Lydia with a hand on her arm. It burned and Lydia was left with Artemis’ fingerprints on her forearm. “Remember your promise. I will be back on the new moon to see that you fulfill your obligation.”

Lydia felt her stomach sink but nodded anyway and ran after the guys. At the door, Dean let Derek go first and he kicked it in and went in first, fangs and claws already out. Dean followed, Scott behind him. Sam turned to Lydia and opened his mouth to say that maybe she should stay but Lydia stopped him. “Time for gender equality talks later, Sam. Move your ass.” She raised the bow that Artemis had given her and tried to remember everything Allison had taught her. She gestured to the open door. “Go. I’m right behind you.”

Sam gave her one last look and then rushed through the door. Dean was already fighting another guy with a hard back book in his hands. There was two guys on the ground already, one holding his still bleeding throat, the other his stomach. Derek roared dropping almost every single other person in the room.

Dean took the opportunity to snap the guy’s neck from behind. Cas had his angel blade out and the guy in front of him stumbled back, blood spilling from his chest. He wiped his blade off and nodded.

They turned to the hallway and kitchen and stumbled back as there was a stampede of feet and people began to pour out the back of the house like they were cockroaches.

~~~

Allison stepped back and away from Adam, rolling her shoulders. She was barefoot and she had already stepped on sharp stones in the basement. It was dim, only one light in the entire room. She didn’t know what kind of supernatural abilities that Adam possessed if any. She regarded him for a long moment and then tipped her chin back and nodded.

He threw the first punch and she ducked underneath it, slamming her fist into his stomach. He grunted and it felt like she was hitting iron. He grabbed her hair and jerked her back into the wall. He reached for her throat but she turned her body and nailed him twice in the face with her elbow and felt something crack. He stumbled back but she kept coming at him and hit him in the jaw.

Adam screamed and rushed her, catching her just below her ribs and throwing her into the wall again and there was a flurry of fists and Allison curled into herself, protecting her head. He landed blows everywhere and she waited until he paused to step back to kick her. When he did, she leaned back caught his ankle and in a devastating move that Castiel had taught her, she snapped his ankle. He screamed but Allison didn’t stop, she stood and kicked him in the groin twice before dropping heavily down on his chest. He was pale and his eyes were rolling in the back of his head. She slapped him across the face and leaned in.

“Stay with me, Adam. We aren’t done by a long shot.” She said. She punched him and kept punching until he reached up for her. She took him by the shoulder and flipped him over on his stomach. She ripped her necklace from her neck, doubled the long chain over in her hand and slipped it around his neck. She yanked back on it as hard as she could and she was sobbing so hard that her chest was hurting and she was covered in blood, not all of it her own, and this thing underneath her was fighting and scrabbling at her and she shook her head and screamed and pulled back harder-

And then there was a hand there, a hand on hers, a hand on the chain that she was pulling at and she loosened and let go and stepped back. She turned and saw Scott and then Dean and she stumbled to him, his eyes wide and confused.

“Tell me he’s not who he says.” She said, pleading with Dean. “Tell me he’s not one of us, Dean.”

Dean looked sick. “He’s-” He shook his head and picked Allison up. “Don’t think about it, Ali. Don’t.” He turned back to the door and she reached out for Sam. Sam caught her hand and she pulled him along after her and Dean and all that was left in the basement was Castiel, Derek and Scott, who was untying Stiles. Lydia was upstairs, guarding the front door. Lydia ran to her and threw her arms around Dean and Allison and Allison cried into her best friend’s arms. Dean let her down gently.

“Stay with her.” Dean ordered. Lydia and Allison slumped to the floor but Sam nodded, looking down the dark stairs at the basement. On his way down, Dean pressed himself against the wall so that Scott could help Stiles up the rest of the way. Stiles was limping, his face was bloody and his eye was black. He whimpered a little bit when Scott grabbed him too hard but was trying to keep it to himself.

He was a good kid.

Dean made it down the stairs where Adam was pulling himself up into a sitting position and Castiel stood next to Derek, both of them watching Adam warily.

“Dean-” Cas said. He seemed to want to say something else but then stopped and shook his head. He stepped closer to Dean and said softly. “Whatever you want to do from here on out, I understand.”

Dean nodded.

“You know this guy?” Derek asked.

“He’s, uh, he was my brother.” Dean said.

Derek blinked and looked at him. “So it’s not just my family that tries to kill each other.” He nodded. “Good to know.”

Dean didn’t reply but instead hunkered down in front of Adam. “How’d you get out?” He asked.

“Does it matter?” Adam said and turned his head to spit out some blood.

“Yes.”

Adam shrugged. “I made a deal. I’d give the pit a Winchester if they’d let me go. They did.”

“So what happens when I send you back empty handed?” Dean said.

“Nothing could be worse than what’s already happened.” Adam whispered. He shook his head. “Nothing could top that. Send me back. It’s like home down there.”

Dean looked down at the ground beneath his feet and stood. He turned to Cas and nodded further back into the room. Dean whispered something to Cas who actually took a step back away from Dean and looked momentarily sick. Derek watched them for a long moment, unable to catch their words. Dean watched Cas who, though looking sickened at the idea, nodded.

“You are a better man than me.” Cas muttered. He walked over to Adam and sighed. He used his angel blade to slice open his thumb and painted a crude cross over Adam’s forehead.

“ _Dominus noster Jesus Christus te absolvat; et ego auctoritate ipsius te absolvo ab omni vinculo excommunicationis et interdicti in quantum possum et tu indiges. Deinde, ego te absolvo a peccatis tuis in nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti.”_

Cas looked over his shoulder at Dean, who nodded.

 “ _Amen.”_

Cas raised his blade and plunged it into Adam’s chest. Dean was there in a second, cradling Adam. Adam stared up at Dean and smiled.

“Dean.” He said. There was a clarity there that hadn’t been before. “Dean.” He said again, his voice lower. “They tried to break me. They said I was nothing. But I told them I was a Winchester and my brothers were coming for me and they were going to get me out.” He looked around, registering the basement for the first time, it seemed. “Did you get me out?” He asked.

“Yeah. Yeah we got you out.” Dean nodded. He wiped at his face. “But it’s time for you to go on now.”

“Go on?” Adam asked, his eyebrows knit.

“Yeah, man. You’re better than this. Than this dirt, than all this. You’ve sacrificed enough. You’re gonna go now. And we’ll see you up there, sooner or later.”

“Is dad gonna be there?” Adam asked, his voice small.

“And your mom. Bobby will be there too.” Dean nodded. “Yeah, man. You’ve got good people waiting for you up there. It’ll be ok. They’ll take care of you. Show you around.”

Adam nodded and then his back bowed and his hands scrabbled at Dean’s face and Dean realized he was drowning. He was drowning in Dean’s arms.

Dean curled himself around Adam. “Ok, it’s ok. I’m here. I’m here and I got you. You go and we’ll be there in a little bit.” Dean continued to make nonsense promises until Adam stopped breathing.

“Dean.” Cas said softly.

“It’s my fault.” Dean said. “He’s all my fault.”

“Dean.”

“He was my brother.”

~~~

**Two weeks later**

 

Allison sat on her bed, her history book on her lap. She was staring out the window and there was a howl. Her phone buzzed.

_From: Stiles_

_Can I come by?_

Allison smiled.

_Yes. Bring your history book._

Stiles showed up at her bedroom door half an hour later, pizza in hand. “Dad says hi.”

Allison smiled. “Did he like the cupcakes?”

Stiles nodded. “Yes, you and him are diet wreckers. Stop giving him pastries, for the love of god!”

Allison laughed.

They studied for an hour, until Stiles had the Gilded Age down. Then they leaned back on her bed and stared up at the stars that Scott had put on her ceiling.

“Do you think about him?” Stiles asked after a moment.

“Sometimes. I try not to, though.” Allison said.

They had given Adam a hunter’s burial, way out in the woods. Allison had chosen not to go and had stayed curled up underneath Derek’s arm until her brothers got home and she could curl in between the two of them.

“How did he- I mean, why?” Stiles asked.

Allison shrugged. “Dean tells me he was trapped for thousands of years in hell with the two most powerful angels of our time. They had nothing to do but tear into him over and over.” She sighed. “Sometimes there is no why. Sometimes it just is.”

 

 


End file.
